Hundreds pack Newtown church for vigil after rampage

(Associated Press) Twenty-six candles — one for each of the victims — flickered on the altar Friday as hundreds of grief-stricken residents gathered for a vigil in memory of the children and staff killed in a shooting rampage at a school in this Connecticut town.

With the church filled to capacity, hundreds spilled outside, holding hands in circles in the cold night air and saying prayers. Others sang “Silent Night” or huddled near the windows of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church.

“Many of us today and in the coming days will rely on what we have been taught and what we believe, that there is faith for a reason,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at the vigil Mass.